A Collection of Drabbleshots
by Demitria Miriam
Summary: A collection of unrelated drabbles or one-shots that mostly fall into "family", "bonds", "random experiences" or "growing up" moments. Main characters will hop around from Sesshoumaru, Inupapa, and Inuyasha, along with a few intros from others!
1. Preservation

Title: A Collection of Drabbleshots  
><span>Author<span>: Demitria Miriam  
><span>Rating<span>: T  
><span>Disclaimer<span>: I do not own Inuyasha and make no money off this piece of fan created fiction. All rights reserved to Rumiko Takahashi, VIZ Media, Sunrise, etc. I only own the writing.  
><span>Notes<span>: These drabbles/ one-shots range from G to M. Though so far, most are kid fics or "family moments" related but do not follow each other in any way unless stated.

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Rating: T  
><span>Chapter Summary<span>: Armor can only protect so much. One of the sibling's realizes this, vowing to be more mindful next time. Prompt: Armor. Characters: Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru.

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><p><strong>Preservation<strong>

Inuyasha fell to a knee, taking a quick breath as he surveyed the battlefield before him with an angry glare.

Fucking cat demons! The furry little shits had been following them ever since the last town they'd passed thought, and that had been well over thirty miles away! They'd bided their time until his brother and he had walked into a deep ravine where they'd then been ambushed.

"Inuyasha," a voice called, pulling the hanyou out of his thoughts.

Inuyasha growled as he angled his sword to block the blow coming from above. He'd miscalculated, however, and the cat youkai thrust its spear into his chest. The hanyou was winded for only a few moments before he regained his footing and swung his sword once, cutting the opponent clean in half.

Grunting, Inuyasha rubbed the dull ache where the demon had tried impaling him but failed thanks to his ensemble, leaving the spear bent and broken upon the ground. He turned to see how his brother fared, snorting when he saw Sesshoumaru wiping his blade off on the clothes of a dead mongrel before sheathing it and walking over to him.

The demon paused in front of him, eyebrows furrowing as he drew one of his claws along the hanyou's cheek, wiping away dry mud. "Are you hurt?"

Inuyasha blushed, pushing the hand away. "No, m'fine."

The youkai merely stared at him as his eyes flicked downward.

"...What?" the half-demon asked curiously, cocking his head as he continued waiting for an answer.

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><p>Sesshoumaru's hand ran along Inuyasha's clothed chest as he spoke. "Had you not been wearing the Robe of the Fire-Rat you would now be gravely injured, hanyou." While his voice was low, the tone itself spoke of his hidden reprimand to be more careful in the future, armored robe or not.<p>

The half-demon snorted, all bravado returning to his stance as he began walking down the path they had originally intended on following. "You worry too much, old man. I can take care of myself fine."

"Indeed," the elder replied as he followed. Sesshoumaru chose to remain silent even though his thoughts jarred him.

_Had Inuyasha not been wearing the Fire-Rat armor that our father passed down to him, that spear the cat youkai had thrown at him would have pierced his heart, killing him instantly._

The demon shook his head of the close encounter, vowing silently that he'd never let such a close call occur again.

**The end.**


	2. The Great Escape

Rating: T  
><span>Chapter Summary<span>: Everyone has things they run from, whether it's figuratively or literally. But what happens when the inevitable catches up to a little hanyou? Family, humor. Prompt: Pursuit. Characters: Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru, Inupapa, Izayoi. AU.

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><p><strong>The Great Escape<strong>

The small child ran down a dark corridor faster than he'd ever run before in his life. His petite lungs heaved in protest as he gasped out, heart pounding against his chest as one resounding thought crossed his mind: _Can't be caught! _

As he continued running down the empty hall he chanced a look behind him to see if they were still pursuing him.

He received his answer when a pair of glowing eyes flashed beyond the darkness in his direction causing him to cry out in horror as he picked up his pace again, nearly tripping over his own legs in the process.

"Here me well, hanyou," a dark, foreboding voice echoed through the shadows of the night. _That voice... that voice is the worst!_ he thought as chills ran down his spine when the voice spoke again. "You can't escape!"

No, no, no! He wouldn't be caught! Not this time! Not again!

"Found you, half-breed!" the voice was right behind him! Claws shot out then and grabbed the tiny hanyou by his scruff, the child kicking and screaming as he was carried all the way back to the room he'd been trying to escape from in the first place.

And then his eyes landed on it... sitting as innocently as it could in the middle of the room. The hanyou froze, expression pained for a moment before his fight or flight instincts kicked in.

"Please no!" he whined, scratching at his brother's hand. "Do not want!"

"Be quiet, whelp," his older sibling growled as a woman walked in from another room then. "I've brought him."

"Thank you, Sesshoumaru. Please put him in," she said, kneeling down.

"No, momma, please don't do this!" the child cried out as he felt his sibling lowering him. "Sho! No! Do not want! _Not want!_"

All Sesshoumaru did was grin evilly before releasing the hanyou into the worst invention ever made.

A series of frantic splashes sounded then as the hanyou resurfaced, kicking, yelling and trying to run away again as his mother brought out the scrubby mitt.

"NO, PLEASE STOP IT! NOOO! WATER! IT'S WET! PLEASE! STOP IT! AAAHHH! IT'S COLD!..."

"Inuyasha, please, it's only a bath, and mommy's here, see? You're fine, sweetie," his mother said gently as she brought the yellow scrubby mitt to his side once more. Her son really did hate being clean.

"Stupid mutt butt," the hanyou's older brother grumbled leaning against the doorframe as he surveyed his sibling's tantrum in mild amusement before wincing as someone walked in the room next to him. "Father!" the ten-year-old cried out at being knocked upside the head.

"Don't call your little brother that, Sesshoumaru. You know better," his father admonished with a stern look before he moved further into the tiled room to help his wife with their squirming toddler.

Inutaishou sighed as he dropped down next to the tub at the flailing boy. It was always such a circus in their house whenever bath time rolled around.

**The end.**


	3. Homecoming

Chapter Rating: PG  
><span>Chapter Summary<span>: The Inu no Taishou returns home, only to come face to face with his two young sons. Surely there was no greater show of devotion than this, he thought. Prompt: Devotion. Characters: Inupapa, Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha. AU.

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><p><strong>Homecoming<strong>

The Inu no Taishou released a breath, an exhausted but relieved smile hanging heavily on his face as he glimpsed his palace over the mountain side.

_Finally, I'm home_, he thought with delight, sighing.

Six months of patrolling the lands one owned had its toll on even warriors of the highest caliber, especially when parted from those they were meant to keep near and protect. With that in mind, the daiyoukai's thoughts soon turned to his beloved wife, Izayoi, and their two young sons, all of which awaited him just over that ridge. _I wonder how much they've grown._

He grinned as his pace picked up a bit, excited to see for himself.

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><p>The tiny inuhanyou pouted as he crossed his arms, planting his feet into the ground for extra emphasis as he boldly declared, "No, Sho-ru!"<p>

Sesshoumaru's shoulders sagged as he rolled his eyes heavenward before turning around to address the toddler. "Inuyasha, Daddy won't be mad, I promise."

The hanyou's pinched expression remained the same; he was not convinced. While his big brother might be the grown up age of ten, he still knew the one rule their Papa had set out clearly before he'd left last time.

And that was to not enter and or mess around in the room beyond the door at the end of the hallway. Even a "baby" like Inuyasha knew that (he wasn't a baby either! He was five whole years old).

"Sho-ru, Papa said-" he pressed as his sibling made to go into the No-No room.

"_Papa_," the ten year old stressed, irritated with his sibling's lack of support, "will love it. Just you wait. Now take this and help me." Sesshoumaru nodded in one direction as he entered the room, handing his little brother a brush.

"But-" Inuyasha complained again despite taking the brush he was given.

"No buts, go." And with that they set to work.

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><p>Staring in shock, he stood frozen in the doorway of his study... A room he thought had been declared off limits to his children...<p>

Papers... ink... everywhere...

The Inu no Taishou sweat dropped as he heard giggling coming from the other side of his desk, closing his eyes in resigned mirth as he caught sight of the two silver crowns hiding behind it.

"SURPRISE!" came the twin cries of his sons' as they stood, arms thrown upwards in their exuberance. He tried to look anything but upset at what they'd done to his office; his many scrolls, land deeds, treaties... now nothing more than a child's color book.

"Boys!" he cried out then, a huge smile breaking across his own visage as he squatted down to the ground, arms outstretched as two small bodies barreled into him. He chuckled as he held them, truly happy to be home; embraced and loved unconditionally.

Surely there was no greater show of devotion than a father's study being defaced with depictions of happy faces and hearts on the eve of his return.

**The end.**


	4. Virtue

Chapter Rating: T  
><span>Chapter Summary<span>: They say Patience is a virtue... but Patience had obviously never been born with youkai markings such as his that other children made fun of. Prompt: Count to 10. Characters: Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, Inupapa. AU. One-shot.

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><p><strong>Virtue<strong>

"_I want you and your brother to stay inside the village while I'm gone. I'll be back before the sun sets completely. I just need to meet with Lord Something-or-Other to finalize a treaty,"_ their father had said an hour ago, Sesshoumaru not caring enough to remember the Lord's name because of how utterly bored he was.

Bored and left to babysit his little brother, Inuyasha.

The ten year old threw a glare over his shoulder at the inupup trailing along behind him, his pointer finger partially in his mouth as he looked around with huge eyes and curiously twitching ears.

Sesshoumaru sighed to himself as he continued walking through the village, looking at this and that with feigned interest-

Before stopping in the middle of the road when the inane questions his brother had bombarded his ears with since they'd arrived suddenly ceased. He turned around, gold eyes widening when he saw absolutely no sign of his brother anywhere.

"Inuyasha!" he called out, brows scrunching in agitation. The hanyou had better not be playing hide and seek like he was apt in doing whenever the demon ignored him. If so, he better hope their father got to him before he did because otherwise he'd-

A sharp cry that distinctly belonged to Inuyasha sounded then from just outside the village, near the forest's edge. In a blur of white and red Sesshoumaru came upon a scene that had his hackles rising instantly.

There standing around the little hanyou were six village boys, all youkai, and all jeering at the half-blood, one so bold as to step forward and pull at one of his fuzzy, oversized ears.

The hanyou cried out again, tears gathering in his eyes as his hands moved up to protect his head.

"Leave him alone," Sesshoumaru said, eyes narrowed to slits as he growled lowly. He stepped forward, his moko-moko moving further still to curl around his little brother protectively, pulling the five year old behind him. He continued to stare down Inuyasha's attackers, daring them to even try and come after either one of them.

However, the physical attacks he was anticipating never came... No, a whole different kind of attack was launched the moment the boys' eyes refocused from the half-blood to Sesshoumaru.

"What's this?" one boy started off as he gazed at the newcomer.

"What's a girl like you doing butting in!" the one that looked like the leader of the group yelled out.

"I don't think that's a girl..." another whispered, holding back his chuckles.

A scandalized gasp erupted then.

"You... Are you a _boy?_" the leader guffawed, eyes wide in surprise before crinkling in laughter. "I thought that was makeup or something!"

"I'm a boy, what of it," Sesshoumaru growled, fists clenched at his sides. One resounding thought echoing through his head dully: This again. It always came down to his birthmarks somehow. And every time it did, he had to count to ten to cool off, otherwise he'd lose the little patience he had stored away for fools like these boys.

_One. _

_Two._

"You can't be a boy! You're too small!"

_Three. _

_Four…_

"Yeah, and you have makeup on like a girl!"

_Five..._

"I'm not-!" Sesshoumaru began, taking a step forward.

_Six..._

"He's a boy! He's Sho-ru!" came a voice from behind the youkai. Sesshoumaru blinked behind him as his little brother fought to free himself from moko-moko, moving to stand in front of him, arms outstretched as if to protect the elder. "He has the best marks!"

That sent another round of laughter throughout the small group of children, causing both inuhanyou and inuyoukai to growl lowly in defense.

"You wish you had marks!" the little hanyou growled at one of the boys before jumping at him and biting his hand.

"Ow! You little-!" the boy yelled out before growling himself and grabbing the half-demon by the scruff of his neck, aiming to pull at one of those ridiculous looking ears again.

"Let him go!" Sesshoumaru snarled as he barreled into the boy, knocking Inuyasha out of his hands.

Just as he was about to rake his poison claws across the boy's face a low growl sounded from beyond the forest, ceasing any and all struggles as every single pair of adolescent eyes turned to where the sound was coming from.

All were met with glowing red eyes.

Another threatening growl sounded and the children from the village scattered back to their homes, leaving only Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru, the elder of the two sighing as he knelt down by his little brother.

"Stupid hanyou, I had it under control," Sesshoumaru grumbled to no one in particular as he carefully rubbed away any soreness his sibling's abused ear might have had.

"Papa!" the little hanyou wiggled for freedom as his arms were outstretched toward the being emerging from the line of the forest. Sesshoumaru sighed again once he was sure the hanyou was fine and let the boy go. Inuyasha hurled himself toward their father, jumping up into his arms. "Papa!"

Eyes now faded back to steely gold, the Inu no Taishou captured his son in a quick hug before putting him back onto the ground, Inuyasha having caught sight of something interesting and bounding off toward it a few feet away.

The Inu no Taishou kept his youngest in view as he turned his attention to his eldest son. "Sesshoumaru."

Sesshoumaru winced at the look his father was giving him.

"You lost your temper again."

"Hai," the ten year old said, bowing his head.

"What did I tell you last time this happened," his father intoned then, voice deep and reprimanding.

"That I should count to ten to cool off."

"And did you?"

"..."

"_Sesshoumaru_," his father pressed.

"I did..." he said honestly, trailing off.

"But?"

"...but I only got to six," he admitted before desperate eyes widened as he explained further. "Only because one of the boys grabbed Inuyasha and tried to pull his ear again! I couldn't allow them to do that!"

The Inu no Taishou closed his eyes, a smile sliding across his face, before turning his attention to his youngest who was still playing around in... what looked like a small mud puddle. "And what are you doing exactly, Inuyasha?"

The little hanyou pushed himself up onto his feet and turned around with the biggest smile he'd ever given them.

"Sho-ru! Look me! Look me!" he yelled out happily as he ran up to his brother and father to show them his face.

Sesshoumaru and his father looked down at the hanyou blinking, Inuyasha's face covered in mud... but in a way that resembled- rather sloppily- Sesshoumaru's own birth marks.

And then the Inu no Taishou burst out in tongue curling laughter, Sesshoumaru coloring as he looked away grouching about this or that.

"Ahh, Inuyasha, you make a great looking demon!" the daiyoukai nearly crowed out. "What do you think, Sesshoumaru?"

"Sho-ru!" Inuyasha piped up until his brother turned to regard him, a blush still painting his fine features.

"You look ridicu-" Sesshoumaru started before cutting himself off at his father's look. "I mean, you look great, little brother..." he trailed off moodily.

"Yay!" Inuyasha cheered.

"We should get home quickly so your mother can see what a fine demon you're becoming!" the Inu no Taishou said propping Inuyasha up on his shoulders.

"Mama see!" the hanyou sing-songed, bouncing happily against his father's hold.

"Yeah, you won't be so happy when you realize you'll have to have a B-A-T-H," Sesshoumaru said low enough that his brother wouldn't hear it. His father on the other hand...

"I didn't think of that..."

The revelation- never mind the look of complete and utter horror upon his father's face- was completely worth the reprimand he'd gotten earlier, Sesshoumaru decided then and there as he chuckled to himself.

_So_ worth it.

**The end.**

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><p><span>Author's Note<span>: This is one of my favorite one-shots I think xD Also this sort of ties in with the notion of Inuyasha "hating to be clean" from a previous chapter.


	5. Locker Whore

Rating: T (for creepy ending xD)  
><span>Chapter Summary<span>: While Inuyasha knew his brother hated every moment of being the "locker whore" that he was, Inuyasha couldn't help but sit back and revel in his sibling's immense irritation. Family, humor, AU. Prompt: a random fanart Kayt found of Jaken dancing in front of Sesshoumaru half-naked in a poster. Characters: Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru, Jaken.

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><p><strong>Locker Whore<strong>

Inuyasha rolled his eyes again as he caught sight of yet another poster of his brother taped into some faceless girl's locker.

Not that he was jealous of all the attention Sesshoumaru was getting over this stupid fundraising thing, nope, actually he was quite enjoying the tortured expressions his brother tried to not let show when in school and among their peers. It was priceless! To anyone who didn't know the bastard very well he looked like the same cold, apathetic asshole he always was. But to the trained eye the youkai looked like he was constipated with annoyance.

And, _ohhhhh_, what a lovely, endearing and entertaining look it was! It was all Inuyasha could do just to trail his sibling as a horde of students bombarded him everywhere he turned for autographs or just an up-close view of the "beauty" that was "September Sesshoumaru, Edo High's Hunk of the Month".

Inuyasha snorted to himself as he leaned back against his locker and surveyed the current mob of girls surrounding his brother as he tried to exit one of his classes.

This whole "Hunk of the Month" thing started thanks to the girls and boys varsity basketball teams making it to nationals, and thus, needed money for transportation and accommodations for the duration of the tournament. And since nationals was only three weeks away they'd need the large sum of dough fast. So what better way could they make the amount they needed, as quickly as they needed it, than to create a student calendar dubbed "Hunk 'o Month"?

A tacky name for a tacky calendar, but it fit nonetheless.

And all thanks to the varsity girls that came up with the idea to make a "pin up" of the hottest athletes in the school. Naturally the female to male ratio in their high school was about 5:2, and more like 1:2 where hotness of the male population was concerned (well, according to the committee of girls who came up with the calendar anyway). Despite mostly being mindless airheads they had done two things right regarding their fundraising scheme:

The first was that they'd come up with the most fitting name for their little cliquey committee, the self-dubbed "Fangirls United". They didn't really give two shits if some- mainly the unattractive or unpopular kids- may have objected to over sexualizing the school's star athletes, nor giving undue attention to asshole jocks with personality disorders (like Sesshoumaru, for example). Simplified in all aspects, their committee name simply went by "F.U."

The second thing the drones had done right was involve his brother, Sesshoumaru. Why was that the right thing to do? Because there was only ONE thing more powerful in the universe than his elder brother's infamous and nearly unshakable pride.

And that was the sheer force that was high school girls at the thought and prospect of possible male flesh on display.

Even more priceless was the fact that Sesshoumaru, despite how much he wanted to say no, couldn't. Not only was he obligated to help out since he was captain of the boys' varsity basketball team, he also was easily done in by peer pressure (of the feminine variety that is). Though, really, any sane being would give in to a woman's demands; "hell hath no fury" and all).

And thus his brother's calendar pin up for the month of September was born. And now posted in every fucking locker Inuyasha passed by-

The half-demon paused as he caught sight of his brother's half-naked form posted in the locker of someone he shouldn't have been surprised had one up...

_Oh, gross_, Inuyasha gagged as he continued to walk-stumble to his next class. Wow, apparently even some of the guys had them secretly put up behind their books...

Inuyasha snickered, he wouldn't ever let his brother live this down, especially not when he caught sight of Sesshoumaru's hopelessly devoted follower, Jaken, having a secret pin up of the youkai in the back of his locker!

_The end._


	6. Inuyasha, the Grade A Poet

Rating: T  
><span>Chapter Summary<span>: It really sucks when there's a substitute teacher. Especially when that substitute is one's elder brother. Humor, Family, AU. Prompt: None. Characters: Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru.

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><p><strong>Inuyasha, the Grade-A Poet<strong>

Inuyasha grumbled as he complied with the teacher's absurd demand.

He'd write the stupid poem assignment, but that didn't mean he was going to put any more effort into it than this:

_"Roses are goddamn red!  
>Violets aren't fucking blue, they're purple!<br>This assignment is lame  
>And I hate this class,<br>So go sit on a thumbtack, you bastard  
>and eat it!"<em>

The hanyou smirked at his work and sauntered up to the teacher's desk in front of the classroom. Smacking it down onto the polished top with more gusto than he usually would, Inuyasha squinted his eyes in a quick glare before turning around and walking out of the room before his brother could read what he'd written and haul his ass to detention for his crappy effort.

In the hanyou's wake, he left a wide-eyed class of pupils behind, as well as a rather irritated sibling-turned-substitute-teacher-because-his-usual-English-teacher-got-knocked-up-nine-months-ago-and-only-now-the-little-shit-decided-to-be-born.

Sesshoumaru sighed as his eyes flitted quickly across the messy scrawl of words etched onto- he turned the paper around, not at all surprised by what he saw- the back of a pornography cover. Setting Inuyasha's final English assignment to the side, the demon removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, grumbling something about being loathed to admit his little brother was right; violets weren't really blue, and this assignment was indeed lame.

And then an idea sprung.

Sesshoumaru smirked to himself as he grabbed one of the "grade stamps" and marked Inuyasha's poetry assignment. Smiling to himself one more time, he slipped it into a manila envelope that the usual teacher had marked for "Exceptional Work to Show School Board". With that he dismissed class and walked out the classroom himself, texting his sibling a bit of payback masked in a compliment:

_Congratulations. You earned yourself an A. You won't need to inform Father of your little achievement; he'll know about it soon enough when he attends his School Board meeting tomorrow. See you at home, little brother. -S_

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><p><em>The end.<em>

Author's Note: Posting some stuff I forgot to post, too, which is why anyone watching is being spammed, haha.


	7. Our So Called Issues

Rating: T  
><span>Chapter Summary<span>: Sesshoumaru enrolls Inuyasha and himself into couples counseling at the urging of a new friend of his. But will his friend's "suggestion" unravel the underlying cause of their relationship issues or be the end? The first step is always getting things out in the open. Prompt: None. Family, Inusesst, Therapy, AU. Characters: Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru. It's actually a one-shot but less than 1k words so here it is!

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><p><strong>Our So-Called Issues<strong>

"_I can't believe you dragged me here_," Inuyasha grumbled under his breath irritably, his mouth pulled into a tight line as he seemed to try his hardest to meld into the couch. He threw a nasty glare at his brother next to him. "Fuck you, dragging me to a freaking stranger to talk about all your made up bullshit issues-"

"_**Our **_issues," Sesshoumaru enunciated, not sparing his sibling a glance as his eyes gazed around the room, taking in his surroundings. The wall before them held a tidy oak desk, partially piled with binders and books, while the wall behind it was littered with picture frames, detailing the owner's educated achievements.

"Yeah, our bullshit issues that _you _made up," the half-demon griped a little too loudly.

A barely audible growl sounded at Inuyasha's tone of indignation as Sesshoumaru's equally exasperated voice hissed in reply, "Quiet, he's here."

With that the door to the private office they occupied opened and a man walked in, clipboard in hand.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen," the shrink greeted, taking a seat before he turned his unnaturally pleasant smile from the taller stone-faced man to the shorter, grumpier-looking male.

Silence ensued as the therapist studied his new clients, his inner musings and deductions rudely interrupted a few moments later.

"This is ridiculous!" Inuyasha stood abruptly, ears pulled back against his skull as he lost his temper and stabbed his pointer finger in the stranger's direction. "This guy's a complete quack! You think someone like this is gonna help solve _your issues!_" the half-demon yelled at his sibling.

The therapist remained quiet, merely observing the scene as it unfolded before him.

"Our issues," Sesshoumaru said, eyes narrowing on his sibling. "Sit down, Inuyasha. You're making a fool of yourself."

"No! And they aren't OUR issues! They're YOUR'S. There's nothing wrong with our relationship!"

"I wouldn't have come here to endure _this _if I didn't think anything was wrong, hanyou," the demon said, his tone clipped as his own temper began to reach its precipice.

"Bullshit! You haven't questioned how things were between us until you met that bint and she started filling your head with how things 'should or shouldn't be'. Fuck, Sesshoumaru, you've known me for your whole goddamn life and you've known her for- what?- five months? Why the hell is her word more important than mine?" Inuyasha snarled, his anger fully focused on his sibling now.

Sesshoumaru didn't answer right away, which served to only further add to the weight threatening to suffocate Inuyasha from the inside out.

Physically, mentally... Inuyasha was a strong person- he and anyone that knew him could swear by that- but when it came to emotion and Sesshoumaru, there were times he couldn't help but question how things would turn out, especially when people outside their relationship threated it, thinking they knew how "it should be" and told them what "normal was".

And while Sesshoumaru might be an asshole and chalk Inuyasha's outbursts to simply him being jealous of Kagura because she was a woman... Well, that was pure idiocy. The half-demon could care less that she was a girl and had squishy girl bits. Hell, it could be another dude for all he cared fucking things up between Sesshoumaru and him right now and he wouldn't have been threatened by the other person's physical appearance.

What he _did _feel threatened by was the one thing he felt he lacked. And that was being able to give Sesshoumaru some kind of emotional bond; that's why the jerk had forced him to come to this godforsaken place, wasn't it? To establish one of two things: Either Inuyasha was capable of emotionally investing into this relationship… eventually, or there was just so much wrong in their relationship that there was no way to actually fix it, and that would be that. It would all end here in this tiny, suffocating office that smelled like old carpet and fish food.

And he couldn't take that last notion at all. All he _could _do was focus that insecurity (something he wasn't apt in feeling at all, "So way to go with a second blow, Sesshoumaru" the half-demon thought) into anger and go from there.

Inuyasha growled lowly again, fists clenching at his sides as he continued to glare at his brother. "This is _such _bullshit."

Sesshoumaru turned to level the hanyou with a skin-prickling glare as he started to bite something out.

And that was when the shrink took it upon himself to step in and begin the process of couples counseling before the two inuyoukai further damaged their relationship with misunderstandings and defensive language.

"So, Mister... Inuyasha, was it? Let's talk about these 'issues of dependency' your partner tells me you're experiencing." A can of worms he was opening, the therapist was sure, but one that needed to be opened to get to the core issue. Even if those "worms" had a nasty temper attached to them.

Inuyasha's ear twitched furiously as he slowly turned to face Sesshoumaru to verify what had just been said.

He had his answer the very next moment as the demon refused to look him in the eyes, his expression- naturally- phlegmatic as usual.

That was about the time when shit hit the fan.

But at least they were getting things out in the open in a way neither seemed very comfortable with, the therapist thought. The fact that both were even here, despite wanting to be or not, was a huge step. And that was where the hope lied for them.

_The end._


	8. Spring Fever

Note: Got a prompt from Kaytla where Inuyasha is to find something endearing about Sesshoumaru but is embarrassed by it. I decided on this, and did it from a different point of view. Hope it makes sense! Enjoy!

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><p><strong>Spring Fever<strong>

Sesshoumaru felt it building up long before his mind could decline the notion outright. His breath caught, his eyes fluttered and his cheeks flushed.

The great daiyoukai sneezed the next moment.

He shuddered in disgust as he glared at the canopy of his room.

This happened every spring, every time the flora and fauna around the great island started a new cycle of fertility. His symptoms in the beginning months of a new year were the only things that gave warning that spring was on its way, and could be narrowed down to a few tell-tale signs:

Sneezing, rash, fever, nausea.

And the list would only grow until the heat of summer began to set in to the land.

Another fit of sneezing hit him and he buried his red, sensitive nose into the furs of his bed.

By the gods but he felt abysmal.

If that wasn't enough to sour his mood then it did nothing for his pride that his half-brother would return to the palace this time every year to attend to his sibling's sickness.

During the three months of spring fever the hanyou would remain relatively silent, never once making any snide remarks about his brother's one weakness and instead merely blushed softly as he went about every day chores, bringing fresh water, going through land deeds and the like while Sesshoumaru lay in bed.

Usually when the three months were up, and the two awkwardly avoided any good-byes, the hanyou would simply be gone come morning. However, this time, the youkai found Inuyasha standing in his doorway when he woke up on the first day of summer, all symptoms having subsided considerably.

Inuyasha smirked at Sesshoumaru's weak glare, neither saying a word until a blush stained the half-demon's cheeks as he turned around to head out, bidding his brother farewell with an absent wave of claws and a well-placed, "See you next year."

That was the first time the half-demon had ever said anything to him during the many decades that these encounters had occurred. And he highly doubted it'd be the last.

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